As a paint or a printing ink, an aluminium pigment containing aluminium dust produced by an atomizing method as aluminium flakes has been conventionally used widely. The aluminium flakes themselves have a thickness of 0.1 μm or less and an average particle diameter of 1 μm or more and are dangerous because they produce heat by oxidation, generation of hydrogen, and the like, caused by oxygen and moisture in atmosphere. Therefore, aluminium flakes are provided as a paste containing 65% to 67% by mass of aluminium flakes in oils and fats, a mineral oil, a dispersant, a gas absorbent, and the like.
However, for various applications, providing the aluminium flakes not as a paste but as a solid aluminium-based material such as a powder that is easy to be handled and is safe is more convenient. Therefore, producing aluminium-containing zinc flakes using zinc has been attempted (Patent Literature 1).